[ The scented trail that the man leaves as he paces down the street is mostly washed away by the onslaught of rain from above but what little that lingers is enough to go by. The undercurrent of something familiar and yet so fundamentally different and alien to anything that Strauss could recall and cologne - any other smells (the natural and subtle ones, the ones that Strauss didn't particularly care for) are lost in the rain, leaving only the man-made cologne and the similar-yet-strange scent between the overwhelming smells of the downpour and the dirt it disturbs as it drums against the tarmac.
The man ahead of him strolls to a stop and Strauss's quiet, even pace continues until he's only a brief arms length away from his back. Blinking aside the rain he contemplates the other man's form - his carriage, his posture, the slope of his shoulders and the theoretical reach of the hand that holds aloft the umbrella. Strauss, bulky and thickly-muscled, fancies his chances. The swing of the baseball bat increases, looping back and forth in wider and wider sweeps until it gains enough momentum to be hefted upright in one hand.
There's barely a second that passes after the other man arrives at the junction before Strauss is wordlessly arcing the thick end of the baseball bat in a sharp, savage swing aimed at the base of the stranger's skull.
no subject
The man ahead of him strolls to a stop and Strauss's quiet, even pace continues until he's only a brief arms length away from his back. Blinking aside the rain he contemplates the other man's form - his carriage, his posture, the slope of his shoulders and the theoretical reach of the hand that holds aloft the umbrella. Strauss, bulky and thickly-muscled, fancies his chances. The swing of the baseball bat increases, looping back and forth in wider and wider sweeps until it gains enough momentum to be hefted upright in one hand.
There's barely a second that passes after the other man arrives at the junction before Strauss is wordlessly arcing the thick end of the baseball bat in a sharp, savage swing aimed at the base of the stranger's skull.
Because strangers could not be tolerated. ]